2011 Minutes

56 posts

November Meeting Update!

 

The November membership meeting was held at Papio’s Food & Spirits in Reese, Michigan. Board Member Dennis Trinklien hosted and put the meeting together as I was recovering from my surgery. Denny promised some great speakers for the day and He didn’t let us down. Steve Puvalowski of the Tri-City Speedway shared what it was like for the first year of operation and let us know about some of the great things on tap for 2012. Racing writer and Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame Board Member, Darcie Fuzi spoke about her roots in racing as well as what She is up to these days with her racing column “Pitside with Darcie” and a bit about her involvement with The Sno* Drift Rally held in Montmorency County held in January. Kyle Trinklein & Chuck Darling were on hand and talked about being announcers for the MCR Dwarf Car this past season & the MSTRC Bowling Tournament coming up this February. Thanks Denny for pulling this great meeting together up in the Saginaw/Midland area.

(Top Left: Kyle Trinklein & Chuck Darling Top Right: Darci Fuzi)

(Bottom: Steve Puvalowski)

Children’s Christmas Party Reminder!

Just a reminder about our annual Children’s Christmas Party held on December 4, 2011 at the Father Solanus Casey Knights of Columbus Council # 3797 located on 16831 Twelve Mile Rd. Roseville, MI 48066 at 1:00pm. We will have Bubbles the Clown on hand for magic and lunch will be served. Then Santa will be there to great all the kid’s young and old. You will need to RSVP no later then today to
crussell@marfc.org

Merry Christmas to all from the Board of Directors of MARFC!

Update for November 2011

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(Left:Rick Sigsby Center: Terry Bougusz Jr. Right: Eddie Sachs)

 October 22nd saw the club raise the lid on the off-season monthly meetings. We gathered at the Kart 2 Kart indoor karting facility where we were entertained by three guest speakers. Rick Sigsby got the ball rolling as he described the book that he has written and is ready to go to print entitled “Living On The Edge”. The book covers the history of Auto Racing in Michigan for the first 1oo years starting with Henry Ford at the Grosse Pointe Track in 1901 right up to Brad Keselowski’s Nationwide Championship in 2010. Rick spoke of the many interviews he conducted with many of those who have formed our history of Auto Racing in Michigan. Rick has been working on this book for a while now and it should be ready to sell very shortly at a very reasonable price. I will provide information to purchase the book when it is available.

Next up was Late Model driver Terry Bogusz Jr. who is a second generation racer as his father Terry Sr. raced at Mt. Clemens Race track back in the day while Terry Jr. roamed around as a “Racin Rascal”. Terry started off in Go-Karts before moving in to Late Models with the original Crate Motor/Template Bodied race cars of the former “US-Pro Series” which has now developed into the JEGS CRA Series. Some of terry’s accomplishments are winning the 2008 Auto City Super Stock Championship. This past year, Terry took the template body off of the race car and switched it over to the “Outlaw” style body and went Late Model racing at the Historic, Flat Rock Speedway where he was able to finish up tenth in the season long points chase. Quite an accomplishment considering that many of the drivers at Flat Rock have been driving at the track for many years and do not run a Crate Motor as Terry did so He was out horse powered all year! Terry made an appearance at the Toledo Speedway in an attempt to get into the starting field of the prestigious “Glass City 200” but fell one spot short of making the field. He did gain a healthy respect for the Toledo track and really enjoyed himself.

Our final Speaker of the night was the always entertaining Eddie Sachs III who spoke about his efforts in the USAC Silver Crown Series with driver Jimmy Kite. Many know Eddie as the son of Eddie Sachs Jr. who was a spectacular driver all over the Midwest and unfortunately lost his life in a flaming crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Others will remember Eddie as being a local driver back in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Eddie got his start in a hobby stocker at Mt. Clemens and eventually moved up into the Late Model division and campaigned all over Michigan, Ontario, and the Mid-West before retiring from driving for a while only to be the Bishop Performance Legends Rookie of the year in 2010. These days, Eddie is focused on USAC racing and is planning a serious effort to not only do well next season in the USAC Silver Crown division but if funding can be secured, He would like to go back to his roots by fielding a car in the annual spectacle at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Eddie is very serious about his racing and Like Terry Bogusz Jr. they both realize that racing has changed from being a couple of guys in a truck with a race car to a family oriented sport that shows right on up from Go-Karts, Quarter Midgets, Legends Cars, and on up though the ranks of Stock Cars. Our 50/50 winner was Larry Spodek while our annual cheer raffle winners were Rick Sheppard, Tom Humbarger, and Lee Smith. Congratulations and Thank You for the contributions back to the club from your winnings. Your generosity will really help out with the Kid’s Christmas party.

Thoughts from the President for November!

Well, what can I say? Fall is nearly done and we are staring down the face of winter. Now comes the string beans and mashed potato circuit of awards banquets. Enjoy everyone that you go to as Champions and individuals are recognized for their accomplishments of the past season. Our MARFC Banquet will be here in January and at this point I can share with you that the recipient of our President’s Award this year will be Dr. Robert Hubbard, creator of the HANS Device which has done so much to help save lives in racing.
   

The recipient of our Eddie Sachs Jr. Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award is the “Varney” Family. Family patriarch Bob Varney got involved in racing many years ago and brought along his entire family for the ride which is still taking place three generations later. Just as in the old days there seems to be someone from the Varney family racing something at some race track or is involved in supporting racing in some way, shape, or fashion every weekend.
      

Our Media Award winner for 2011 is the SPEED Program “NASCAR Raceday Built by the Home Depot”.  I don’t know at this point who will be at the banquet to accept the award but I have been assured that they are very honored to be selected for this award and that someone from the show will be there. A few of our other secret awards have been decided but you’ll either have to wait until the February updates to find out or get a ticket to the banquet.
   

It has been a tough month in professional sports as within a week, Dan Wheldon lost his life in an accident at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway while driving an Indy Car and Motorcycle Racer Marco Simoncelli lost his life in an accident at the Malaysian GP Moto-GT Race. I have also been informed that one of our club founders Marion Flokstra is in a rest home in Zeeland and it is not certain when she will return home. Marion along with her husband Willis, Bob and Norma Lewis, and Vito and Barbara Lopiccolo founded our club way back in 1965. I attended the induction ceremony for the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame and it was a very nice affair and it was a thrill to see so many of my past heroes and others who have formed the history of racing here in Michigan. Congratulations to the 2011 inductees: Jerry “The Bear” Makara, Doug Finley, John Doering Jr., Doug Kalitta, the late Scott Kalitta, Alan Brown, Ernie Beckman, Marv Carman, Joan Simmons, and Doug Flannery.

Yours in Racing,

Dave DeHem MARFC President